Representatives of Mosholu Preservation Corporation (MPC) gathered with local community residents, business owners, and elected officials to celebrate its 40th anniversary on Friday, Sept. 17. The event was held outdoors at the historic Keeper’s House, located at 3400 Reservoir Oval East, in Norwood, which is also home to the nonprofit.

 

About 60 community members and former and current elected officials joined past and present MPC staff members for the occasion. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz (A.D. 81) presented a proclamation from New York State to MPC executive director, Jennifer Tausig, in recognition of what he described as the organization’s great work over its 40 years.

Other attendees included Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, State Sen. Jamaal Bailey (S.D. 36), Sirio Guerino and Heather Guerino of local clean-up group, Guerinos Against Graffiti, former District 11 City Councilman and now Judge Andrew Cohen, Miriam Quiñones, volunteer with the Albanian American Open Hands Association and photographer with the Norwood News, senior VP for strategic development at Montefiore Medical Center, Rick Chandler, Barbara Stronczer and Lowell Green of Bronx Community Board 7, former Norwood News editor-in-chief, David Cruz, Sallie Caldwell of the Jerome Gun BID board, senior VP for community affairs at Montefiore Medical Center, Marcos Crespo, District 11 City Councilman, Eric Dinowitz, Brandon Montes of Norwood Community Library, Lorita Watson and other members of Friends of Mosholu Parkland and Jason Caraballo, community relations manager at Montefiore Medical Center.

 

Addressing the MPC team, Jeffrey Dinowitz said, “I remember when you took over the Keeper’s House, I have to admit this too; I got funding, capital funding to help that along, and I looked up today to see when was that because it just seems as if it was just a few years ago, and believe it or not, it was 19 years ago.” Joking, the assemblyman added, “Yeah, I was just old enough to vote, and I just got elected to Assembly, and I was able to get some funding.”

He added, “I grew up not far from here. so when I was younger, I was familiar very much with the shopping district.” He said that some years later when he saw the neighborhood, some of it had declined from what it had been in its heyday, adding that the history of the work carried out by MPC in terms of curbing that decline was very meaningful.

 

“The Norwood community is such an important community in the Bronx, and I am proud to represent it,” the assemblyman said. “On behalf of all of us, I just want to say thank you for all the work that you do, and will continue to do, and I look forward to the big 50 in ten years.” He also took the occasion to thank Cohen, who he said had been “very, very much involved” in helping to fight for the neighborhood as well.

 

Later, in addressing the crowd, Eric Dinowitz joked that he did not remember 40 years ago and barely remembered 19 years ago. “I don’t have a fancy proclamation,” he said, adding that in the council, members got to do something a little better, which he said was [to secure] funding.

“We pass these laws in the council, and we have these hearings in the council to make sure government is working for the people, make sure our small businesses are supported,” he said. “But, the truth is it’s groups like the Mosholu Preservation Corporation that really do the actual work to make sure that we live in a vibrant community, in a community where businesses and people and everyone comes together for such a wonderful community and it is an honor to yes, represent Norwood but also support MPC with what I can do in the City Council, so thank you for all you do.”

 

For her part, the district attorney thanked MPC for all it did to preserve what she described as a wonderful community. “As District Attorney, my job is to make sure we do everything we can to make sure the community is safe, so that people in this community which you’re helping to preserve, are safe and healthy, and be able to enjoy the vibrancy of the community,” she said. “So, I’m doing all that I can and I need your help in order to continue to make it safe so congratulations on 40 years of excellence.”

MPC was established in 1981 as a nonprofit support corporation of Montefiore Health System. According to its website, it helps to combat community deterioration by preserving neighborhoods and building community. It does this through supporting small businesses to ensure they grow and thrive, acquiring and supporting quality, sustainable, affordable housing, beautifying the neighborhood, and producing educational, local news, through the biweekly publication of the Norwood News.

 

As reported, MPC was a driving force behind offering the location adjacent to the Keeper’s House for the recent launch of the Keeper’s House Edible Garden, a community garden run by Friends of Mosholu Parkland. Among other ongoing, community improvements, it also opened an outdoor seating space in recent months on Jerome Avenue and East Gun Hill Road which will function as a social center for local residents. The space was dedicated to the local medical community for their dedication and work throughout the pandemic.

 

For her part, Tausig, who is also executive director of the Jerome Gun Hill BID, thanked all who attended the celebration, and all in the community who supported MPC’s work. “We really appreciate you being here, and all kinds of support that you provide us,” she said.

The event was organized by Tausig, Ariana Cipriani, manager of neighborhood development at the Jerome Gun Hill BID, Daniela Beasley, manager of small business support at MPC, and Natalia Guendel Bueno, community and economic development associate at MPC. Thanking the extended MPC team, Tausig added, “We’re small but mighty.”